Known tools for applying materials to surfaces include hand-held trowels, which can be used to smooth and distribute a material against a vertical, horizontal, or inclined surface.
When hand-held trowels are used to apply tile cement to a floor or subfloor, for example, the worker must typically be on her or his knees to first spread the cement, and then to smooth it out to receive a tile thereon. This takes a toll on the worker's knees, back, and/or body, particularly when the worker must apply the tile cement over relatively large surfaces, or for long periods of time.
Furthermore, the application of the tile cement can vary between workers. For example, each worker may not apply a uniform thickness of tile cement, especially when fatigued. This can cause the subsequent laying of tiles to be misaligned. If two or more workers are applying the tile cement to a given row, it is unlikely that they will have applied the tile cement with a uniform thickness or consistency. This can also cause misalignment when the tiles are laid down.
In addition, applying tile cement manually to a floor or subfloor is time consuming and laborious. These production lags must be considered and built into any construction schedule, thus impeding other work from being performed on the floor or floor surface and affecting costs.